Two costume designs for Tsarevich Alexis: Father Yakov and Man in a nightcap

Details

Alexandre Benois (1870-1960)
Two costume designs for Tsarevich Alexis: Father Yakov and Man in a nightcap
the first inscribed in Russian with title (upper right)
pencil, ink and watercolour on paper laid down on board
the first 13¼ x 9¾ in. (33.5 x 24.8 cm.); the second 13 1/8 x 9½ in. (33.2 x 24.3 cm.) (2)

Provenance

Acquired from Popoff & Cie. by the present owner in Paris in 1995.

Special Notice

VAT rate of 5% is payable on hammer price and at 20% on the buyer's premium.

Brought to you by

Alexis de Tiesenhausen

atiesenhausen@christies.com +44 (0)20 7389 2605

Lot Essay

Alexandre Benois designed the costumes and sets for the 1920 production of Tsarevich Alexei. Based on Dmitry Merezhkovsky's 1905 novel Petr and Aleksei, which recounts the fraught relationship between Peter the Great and his son whom he had put to death for alleged treason in 1717, the production made its debut on the 25 March 1920 at the Bolshoi Drama Theatre in St Petersburg.

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